Greater competition as well as changes in market conditions and consumer demand has forced energy companies to continuously improve and adapt their risk management system, among other things, in order to enhance the effectiveness of their management models.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

What are the new challenges and opportunities for the risk management and its culture development among energy companies?

How can be project risk management effectively incorporated into the decision-making process of energy companies taking into account the use of tools for a qualitative and quantitative project risk assessment including NPP construction projects?

What are the most effective mechanisms for integrating the risk management and project management systems of energy companies?

The ability of business to continuously improve efficiency, productivity, and safety as well as its social focus are the formula for success in achieving sustainable development goals and enhancing the public acceptance of business.

The main objective of a business partner’s internal audit is to find and offer optimal solutions for development, provide reasonable confidence in achieving strategic business goals, and improve the efficiency of the internal control system, which provides a business with a significant competitive advantage.

In the rapidly changing conditions of the global business landscape, the global professional community needs to consolidate its efforts to formulate new tasks and priorities in establishing partnerships between internal audit and business.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

How does internal audit demonstrate its effectiveness? What criteria for the effectiveness of internal audit are the most popular among management/businesses?

A vision of the new role of internal audit in the framework of sustainable development goals and the concept of public good.

Based on our extensive experience, we suggest mechanisms for implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of internal audit in a new role.

Innovations and technical advances have radically changed the world in the 21st century. The use of the latest technologies is a critical factor for competitiveness in the energy sector as well. In an effort to ensure the kind of sustainable development declared by the UN, industry leaders must understand and respond to the most pressing challenges in a timely manner.

In order to enhance the innovativeness of products and projects and create new technologies, companies will need to find modern approaches that will help solve the most pressing problems: attracting new investments by searching for unconventional financing mechanisms and developing project financing tools, among other things.

Can the sustainable development agenda ensure the development of optimal financial solutions, will major international players be able to adapt to the new demands, or are new innovative companies destined to require ‘sustainable’ funding?

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

Are ‘sustainable’ bonds a myth or a reality?

The experience of global leaders in the energy sector: investments in traditional business or breakthrough innovations – how should they be properly prioritized?

Special aspects of building successful funding models for the projects with a ‘sustainable’ component.

The role of the financial regulator and development institutions in creating conditions for the financing of ‘sustainable’ projects. Components of the UN user’s manual for ensuring sustainable development.

The degradation of the environment, a lack of natural resources, and population growth mean environmental aspects take center stage in the implementation of any project. Any decision must take into account the project’s environmental impact at the local, regional and global levels.

There is a clear global trend of business processes transitioning to the concept of environmental marketing with the aim of causing minimal environmental damage at all stages of a product’s life cycle as well as minimizing the use of natural resources.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

What does the concept of environmental marketing mean for nuclear power? What is the significance of environmental criteria when deciding on the development of nuclear projects at a practical level?

What is the current situation with environmental safety and what will the nuclear industry’s efforts be focusing on in the future? At which stages is recycling used in nuclear power?

What is the role of international organizations in enhancing the global environmental safety of nuclear power?

How can a successful dialogue be held with the public on the environmental issues caused by nuclear facilities?

Moderators:

Rebecca Tadesse, Head of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning Division, The Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);

Nowadays nuclear industry companies are among the most high-tech enterprises in the world. Their advanced solutions not only meet the highest safety requirements, but also show that nuclear industries in various countries are innovation centres that develop technological insight and unique competences in the IT sector.
The digital technologies used at nuclear enterprises, such as big data, artificial intelligence, and new production technologies, are capable of drastically changing people’s lives in the coming years since they have enormous potential for achieving sustainable development goals.
It’s no secret that building nuclear power plants provides a major boost to regional development. As the heart of electric power, nuclear power plants contribute to the development of municipal infrastructure, the emergence of high-powered manufacturing enterprises, logistic centres, and innovative medical centres. They also provide incentive for creating a new ecosystem that functions as a single, harmonious organism thanks to the digital solutions that have been created.
There are plenty of examples of digital technologies being applied and tested in the nuclear industry. Digital twins, identification and recognition techniques, online diagnostics, and electronic workflow procedures have been firmly established at nuclear energy enterprises for a long time.
All that’s left to do is understand how and which nuclear industry digital technologies should be used for the public good.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

What transformational changes have been influenced by digital solutions?

How do digital technologies contribute to achieving sustainable development goals?

Can nuclear industry digital solutions be used not only for business and industrial purposes but also for the public good?

How can we measure financial and non-financial effects from the introduction of digital solutions?

Is there room for international digital cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals?

The modern trends of forming alliances and consortiums for the implementation of mega-projects in construction have a multiplying effect on reaching the eighth and the ninth goals of sustainable development. Namely, they contribute to economic growth, to positive dynamic in the employment rate. They also impact the infrastructure development and innovation.

The organizational form of such environment, however, changes along with approaches to projects’ implementation. A profound understanding of these processes is essential for the construction industry to remain competitive on the global market.

This is especially relevant for the nuclear industry where the scope of nuclear power plants (NPP) construction projects has been growing exponentially each year. This is happening for the obvious reasons: the construction of NPP has a significant positive effect on macro-economic parameters in both customer countries and supplier countries. And, therefore, it is important to discuss the following issues:

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

How do alliances for capital projects change approaches to project management and help reduce costs? Based on real-life examples.

How does Sustainable Development impact supply chain and approaches to packaging?

How does Sustainable Development change infrastructure projects and approaches to their implementation (benchmarks, timeline, and culture)?

What should contracting be like in the new environment?

Moderator:

Alexey Khokholov, Head of Power & Utilities Research, Energy Centre, SKOLKOVO, Moscow School of Management.

It is now widely recognised that the nuclear sector requires a range of technological and institutional innovations to ensure the safe, secure and sustainable use of nuclear energy, to help meet global energy demand and combat environmental challenges. However, nuclear energy faces significant headwinds and questions remain about whether and when a new wave of nuclear energy technologies will become available for playing a significant role in the energy systems of the future.

An important challenge that the nuclear sector faces is in the area of workforce development and knowledge management. The lack of consistent investments in the research and development of new nuclear energy technologies has created a knowledge and competence gap in many countries which continues to widen. In nuclear industries around the world, researchers and practitioners developed and acquired critical expertise on-the-job through decades of experience. This workforce is aging and approaching retirement. The tacit knowledge and expertise thus remain at risk until pathways for transferring it to the next generation are established.

The purpose of the Round Table is to:

highlight the main issues in developing and deploying innovations in nuclear energy and educating and training a highly-skilled workforce;

discuss approaches for international cooperation and how they can be used to strengthen regional education and training programmes.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

Innovations that will transform nuclear energy, including those in non-traditional areas such as AI, “Big Data”, etc.

New skills and capabilities that are needed for deploying innovative nuclear technologies.

Countries’ approaches for addressing concerns about the potential loss of nuclear expertise.

Role and formats for international collaboration in the area of knowledge management and workforce development.

Moderator:

William D. Magwood, IV, Director General, NEA OECD.

Speakers:

Noel Camarcat, Special Advisor for Nuclear R&D and International Issues, Electricité de France;

National nuclear projects are designed to help achieve sustainable development goals. The comprehensive development of nuclear infrastructure involves the large-scale development of human resources, the creation of a regulatory and legal framework to regulate nuclear energy, and improving a country’s scientific potential for the use of nuclear and radiation technologies in industry, agriculture, science, and medicine. When adopting measures to develop nuclear infrastructure, a government must address a number of issues such as providing comprehensive and high-quality education, encouraging lifelong learning opportunities, creating sustainable infrastructure, promoting systemic industrialization and innovation, and creating effective institutions at all levels that have a broad level of involvement.
Nuclear infrastructure is essential to the successful implementation of national nuclear projects, but its development requires special attention.
What are some of the specific aspects of regulating nuclear projects? How can we build workforce capacity and improve the system for the integrated management and involvement of industry when implementing projects to build nuclear facilities?

Moderator:

Elina Teplinskiy, Partner, Pillsbury Law.

Co-moderator:

Dr. Alexander Bychkov , Representative of State Atomic Corporation “Rosatom” in Vienna / Senior Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna.

Speakers:

Michail Chudakov, Deputy Director General, Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, IAEA;

The global energy market is undergoing a major transformation. More and more attention is being paid to a reduction in GHG emissions, there has been a gradual transition to distributed generation, an increase in the level of digitalization and the intensity of new technologies being utilized. The transition process has a significant impact on the structure of the global energy mix, alters the roles of key energy market players, and provides better access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

Low-carbon generation trends.

Business models in the renewable energy market.

The role of SMR in the energy mix of the future.

New opportunities for hydrogen energy.

The role of energy consulting in forming the energy mix of the future.

Developing human resources for the economy of the future is one of the global community’s key challenges at the moment. According to the OECD, more than 35 per cent of current employees are not compatible with employers’ demands and the gap continues to expand. Experts estimate that a lack of professionals results in a shortfall of USD 2.1 trillion in profits for the global economy each year.

Technological breakthroughs provide unprecedented development opportunities for the global economy, but also set higher standards for human resources. Structural deficiencies and challenges related to the development of human resources call into question the speed and effectiveness of how many countries will transition to the economy of tomorrow and be able to fully utilize their technological potential.

The transformation of global labour markets and global employment as well as the speed and complexity of technological and social changes force us to take the appropriate measures and review the principals of international cooperation.

Main topics:

Human orientation and mass personalization: the feasibility of the concept From Personnel to Talents, and an HR training system that aims to maximize the development and use of each human’s potential for the best of the economy.

Rapid adaptation for the diversity of an employee’s needs, involvement, and preservation as well as the development of human capital and the creation of conditions for inclusive development.

Creation of a local labour market by the government that functions efficiently for the open collaboration of its participants as well as the creation of the conditions needed for the thorough transformation of the training system in order to update its content and boost both the availability and speed of training.

Best practices of national and industrial mobility growth.

Effectiveness of existing approaches to human resources development in terms of sustainable development goals and a niche for new initiatives at the national and international levels.

Efforts by business to achieve sustainable development goals may yield much greater results if local communities and representatives of civil society actively collaborate and get involved in the implementation of joint humanitarian initiatives.
The purpose of the panel discussion is to discuss the most successful practices and search for promising formats of collaboration with the public and local groups of stakeholders that contribute to the long-term public confidence of business projects.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

How can the impact of business activities in local markets that aim to achieve the UN sustainable development goals be intensified?

How can public interest be generated/increased for the support of projects that impact the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals?

What methods can be used to generate public confidence today? How are the formats for collaboration with local stakeholder groups and communities changing?

How has society’s attitude towards business activities changed when implementing projects that impact the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals?

Moderator:

Elena Kostenko, Director, Institute of Humanitarian Technologies, Professor at the RANEPA (the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration).

Speakers:

Kirill Komarov, Deputy General Director for Development and International Business, Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation;

Lyubov Glebova, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on the Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Governance;

Nuclear medicine is currently one of the most dynamically developing areas in the healthcare sector. The methods used in nuclear medicine have taken the fight against cancer and other diseases to a completely new level due to their extremely high level of efficiency and, in some cases, the lack of any alternatives, both in the diagnosis of numerous diseases as well as the therapy for their treatment, particularly oncological diseases. The goal of the roundtable is not only to discuss market trends, but also to plot a course for future research and cooperation in this area.

Challenges of modern nuclear medicine.

Promising trends in radionuclide therapy.

Trends in molecular imaging: from equipment to advanced tracers.

The best therapy of the future. Where is the industry headed?

Development of nuclear medicine and medical radiology in countries that are new to the game. IAEA support measures.

What are the challenges of establishing a 100% low carbon generation mix? Is there such a thing as a single “best possible” generation mix and what are the criteria for evaluating what such a mix would be? If there are multiple options for decarbonization what point must strategies diverge? This panel will explore how to achieve a sustainable energy mix by combining nuclear energy with other low carbon energy sources.

Panellists will describe their experiences of generating electricity in countries with low carbon mixes today and explain what new requirements are placed on nuclear reactor operators. The panel will also discuss how advocates for individual generation technologies can work together to achieve the optimal generation mix.

Speakers:

Christoph Frei, Secretary General & CEO, World Energy Council;

Celso Cunha, President, Brazilian Association for the Development of Nuclear Activities (ABDAN);

Continuous developments in technology result in rapid changes in the economy and business. To meet the demands of tomorrow, we need to identify areas where we can work with the new generation of the nuclear industry that contribute to the development of a culture of partnership, cross-functional networking, and customer-centricity both within individual companies and in the global nuclear community.

Main topics:

What are the career preferences of young people in Russia and around the world?

What areas of work should be prioritized to minimize development barriers: an incentive system, the optimization of organizational structures, or changes in business processes?

How can collaboration help in the era of global transformation?

What are some examples of barriers to collaboration being overcome in the global nuclear industry: youth programmes of the global nuclear community and a partnership in the development of new scientific technologies?

At its current stage of technological development, the global nuclear industry is making a significant contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Global nuclear industries have a great impact on the socioeconomic development of cities and regions through the use of innovative solutions that help to boost public access to clean water and desalinated sea water, create a smart and safe urban environment, develop human capital, and improve people’s living conditions and quality of life.

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

Why is the nuclear industry engaged in the sustainable development of cities and regions?

What contribution do international organizations and major nuclear industry corporations make to the sustainable development of cities and regions?

What solutions and tools can cities and regions use to achieve sustainable development indicators?

How specific cities are solving sustainable development problems?

Moderator:

Natalia Zaytseva, Head of sustainable business center, Moscow school of management Skolkovo.

Safety excellence and performance success are closely linked when it comes to nuclear operations. How do operators communicate effectively and share information to raise the performance of all operators to that of the best? What do organisations involved in new build need to consider to support the transition of new units from construction to operation, in order for them to start up safely and on time? And with managers playing a vital part in delivering excellence and a strong nuclear safety culture, industry experts will consider the question: ‘what needs to be done to enhance leadership skills in the nuclear industry?

Panellists will describe their experiences of how operators can work together, share information and benchmark data to improve performance. They will also discuss the challenges facing the industry’s new units and how they should be supported. They will then debate how leadership can positively enhance performance.

Speakers:

Peter Prozesky, CEO, WANO;

Oleg Chernikov, First Deputy Director for Production and Plant Operations, Rosenergoatom;

A key condition for ensuring safety at reasonable costs for nuclear facilities is to establish reliable supply chains with a vertically integrated and sustainable quality management system.

In order to build international nuclear industry supply chains in the modern world, the key stakeholders in the nuclear sector must answer the following essential questions:

The main topics for discussions at the round table are:

How can various national and international rules and standards be taken into account in the international nuclear industry supply chains?

How can efforts be consolidated at the global level to combat counterfeit and fraudulent products in the nuclear industry?

The use of an industry-controlled system for the certification of suppliers’ quality management systems as a basic condition for participation in industry projects in different countries. Which aspects are essential when building such a system?

Moderator:

Vadim Lapidus, leading Russian management consultant, Academician of the International Academy of Quality (IAQ), Academician of the Academy of Quality Problems of the Russian Federation, Honorary President of the International Guild of Quality Professionals, Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the State University Higher School of Economics.

The development of nuclear energy entails solving various ambitious challenges in matters concerning basic sciences, engineering, and ecology, among other things. The use of advanced nuclear technologies in industry, healthcare, and space exploration will promote sustainable industrialization, foster innovation development, and open up new opportunities to which such industries previously had no access at all.

Main discussion topics:

Use of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors for hydrogen production.

Nuclear batteries.

Nuclear technologies in space exploration.

Moderator:

Alexey Khokhlov, Head of the Electric Power Sector, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.

People around the world – from the U.S. to Germany to Taiwan – are stepping up and publicly voicing their support for nuclear. Their advocacy efforts have already resulted in tremendous victories, giving a new hope for a future powered by clean and reliable energy.

Time Magazine “Hero of the Environment,” renowned environmentalist Michael Shellenberger, along with pro-nuclear activist Iida Ruishalme of “Mothers for Nuclear” and award-winning director Frankie Fenton, who is telling the story of the pro-nuclear grassroots movement through the video camera lens, will talk about their journeys and missions to defend nuclear power as our largest source of clean energy.

Rosatom’s commitment to realizing the promise of nuclear energy to achieve universal prosperity and nature for all through the “Wild Edens” project will also be discussed.